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Wednesday, 27 February 2013

Today, the 27th February 2013 it is the 50th
anniversary of the death of my paternal Grandfather Michael Hannan.Michael was only 41 years old when he passed
away, he left a wife and two young sons; Michael and Peter.I was never fortunate enough to meet my Granddad
Michael as he died before I was born.But, with the stories from my dad and my Mama Ada, along with the many
photos they have of him I was able to build up a picture of the man who
had whisked my Mama off of her feet and was brave enough to take on the fiery
5ft 1 ½ inch tall East End girl that she was.Since then I have found out lots more about the life of Michael Hannan
whilst researching my family tree.

Here
is his story –

Michael was born on 5th October 1921, the second
son of three boys born to Maud and Thomas Hannan.His elder brother Thomas was born a few years
earlier, in the aftermath of World War 1 on 11th December 1919.His younger brother Bernard came a few years after
Michael on 13th December 1923.According to the baptism records of the Roman Catholic Church of the
Annunciation all three boys were born at 21 Spencer Street, straight across the
road from the church.On speaking with
Thomas Jnr “Uncle Tommy” in 1996 he told me that the boys had all been very
large babies; Tommy 11lbs, Michael 13lbs and Bernard 15lbs.

Michael on the donkey
with his brother Thomas

Michael was baptised “Michaelis Jacobus Hannan” on 23rd
October 1921.The Hannan family still
followed the Roman Catholic faith that Michael’s Grandfather ~ Michael Snr had
practised when he arrived in Chesterfield back in the 1870’s.He was a labourer born in a small hamlet
named Attymachugh in County Mayo, Ireland (but that’s another story for another
day).

“Jacobus” in Latin can be translated in English to Jacob
or James, up to now I have found no other members of the family who Michael may have
been named after, but it does appear that the name did have some special meaning to the
Hannan family; the name was passed on to his first son Michael born in
1947, who was actually baptised “Jacobus Hannan” but named Michael in the civil
registrations and is known as Michael. I
would love to know why this was and who “Jacobus” was.

Back to the baptism of baby Michael in 1921, he had two
God Parents or “Patrinus fuit” as the Roman Catholic Church called them.One female named Margaret Hannan who I would
expect was his Grandmother and one man named John Thomas Harbottle.John Thomas Harbottle was married to the
Aunt of Michael’s father Thomas (Great Aunt of Michael).She was named Annie Hannan and she married
John on 28th May 1917.She
was 51 years of age at the time and this was her first and only marriage (but
again, Annie has her own story to be told at another time).

Michael received his confirmation on 21st May
1933. He attended the Roman Catholic School in Chesterfield.The family moved to their own home at 59 St
Helen’s Street and lived in a two up two down terrace house.On leaving school Michael worked for a grocers
and had various driving jobs.He followed the Roman Catholic Church until his death and used to worship at the Roman Catholic Church in Poplar when he went to visit his in-laws.

The peaceful life was shattered with the onset of World War 2 and Michael and his two brothers all played their part in the war effort.Michael joined the Royal Engineers as a
driver on 7th April 1941. Thomas joined the Army and Bernard the Navy. There is supposed to be a newspaper article telling of an occasion when all three brothers were stationed at the same place, but try as I might I have not found it ~ yet.

Michael was Private 1950518, his service records describe him as aged 19 years and 5
months, 5ft 7 ¾ inches tall, weight 141 lbs.He had a healthy complexion, grey eyes and his Irish roots gave him
auburn hair.We are even told that he
had a mole on his left shoulder blade and a scar on his right thigh.

﻿﻿

Description - Service Records

He was sent for Military Training at Halifax and posted
to the "CWTCRE" which I have later discovered was the Chemical Warfare Training
Centre Royal Engineers.Those two words “Chemical
Warfare” have meant that I have hit a major brick wall with regard to his
duties and whereabouts.Much of the
information is still classified and will continue to be so. I am afraid we
may never find out what Michael was involved with during his time with the Royal
Engineers.

What I have been able to decipher from his service records
is that in July 1941 he was posted to the 11th Chemical Warfare
Training Battalion.A month later on 30th
August 1941 he was disciplined for failing to appear at an appointed place at
South Molton.For his “crime” he was to
forfeit two day’s pay.

The service records then jump to 25th March
1943, 19 months later.During these
months there are no references at all to any service for Michael on his
documentation. What was Michael doing? Where was he based? We will probably
never know.He never spoke of Chemical
Warfare or his involvement to my dad, the information was all new to us when we
read his service records.

And so in March 1943 Michael was posted from the Chemical
Warfare School to the Depot Battalion at Bownes.He moved around England over the next month’s
being based back in Halifax and what looks like Stroud.

In November 1943 he was transferred to “B Coy” and soon
found himself in trouble again.He was
granted leave on 4th December 1943 and was due back to base at
23.59hrs that same day.Michael must
have been preoccupied as he did not return until 17.20 the next day; 5th
December.He was absent without leave
for 17 hours and 21 minutes.For his
penalty he was fined 1 days’ pay.

What caused Michael to neglect his duties as he did?

We should ask the question “who caused
Michael to be absent without leave”.

The
answer ~

Miss Ada Frances Masterson of Willis Street, Poplar, London, daughter
of William James and Charlotte Masterson.On 4th December 1943 Ada and Michael were married at the
Register Office in Chesterfield.They
were both 22 years old and Ada was serving as a Private in the Auxiliary Territorial
Service.

The couple had met in Chesterfield after Ada and her
younger brother James had been sent to stay at Vincent Crescent in Brampton,
Chesterfield with their Aunt Ada and her husband George Wadge.James was 10 years younger than Ada so he
would have remained for a while in rural Chesterfield, safe from the terror in
London.But Ada was older and she would
have probably enjoyed her new found freedom in Chesterfield, away from her
parent’s watchful eyes.She joined the
ATS in 1942 at Derby so she must have joined whilst staying in Chesterfield.

The marriage was witnessed by Michael’s parents Thomas
and Maud Hannan, it is not known who else if anyone, was present.Michael must have wished more than anything
that he did not have to return to his barracks and so I think we can forgive
him his little extra time with his new bride.Especially as just days later on 12th December Michael
embarked for North Africa.We know from
there he was sent to Italy and we have lots of photographs of him looking like
he is enjoying his time in the warm weather.

Michael is front left, without his shirt on!

In August 1945 Michael was promoted to Corporal. He returned to British soil in December of
1945 and spent the remainder of his service being stationed at various training
schools and was reverted to home establishment in February 1946.He received the following reference from the Royal Engineers -

Character Reference - Service Records

﻿

﻿

Michael returned to St Helen’s Street and resumed his
civilian life with his new bride.They continued
in the Hannan tradition and produced two sons and no daughters; Michael in 1947
and Peter in 1948.In the early 1950’s
they got their own house at Taylor Crescent, Spital but later on they spent the rest of
their lives living at 69 St Helens Street, just a few houses away from Thomas and
Maud who lived at 59 St Helens Street. Number 69 was right right next door to Abercrombie Junior School, the school my brother and I attended years later.

Michael worked at various jobs including at Robinson’s Works and later for R Orme & Co as a grocery provisions dealer. In his spare time Michael was a keen darts player and was a
member of the Chesterfield Arm’s Pub team; he also liked to watch the cricket.As many did in post war Britain, Michael
tended an allotment which was just a quick walk for him and his boys off of Dowdeswell
Street. The family took holidays in Poplar visiting Ada's family.

Sadly Michael’s mother died on 12th December
1960, aged 65 years old.She was buried at
Boythorpe Cemetery which is set on a hill overlooking Chesterfield. Thomas used to call at his son's house everyday for a cup of tea and a chat, this continued after Michael's death.

Not long after on 27th February 1963 Michael suffered a pulmonary infarction with a terminal pulmonary embolism and bilateral adrenal hemorrhage. He was an inpatient at the Chesterfield Royal Hospital at the time and a telegram was sent to Ada telling her to report to the hospital as soon as possible. We do not know why he was in hospital or what the exact events were, but sadly Michael had his young life cut short at only 41 years of age.

The funeral service was carried out at the Church of the
Annunciation on Spencer Street on 4th March and he was then interred
at Boythorpe Cemetery just behind the resting
place of his mother Maud.His obituary
was placed in the Derbyshire Times on 8th March 1963, my Mama had
sent a picture of him in his “tropical” uniform looking happy and carefree to
be placed with the obituary but for some reason the picture was not
printed.

Fifty years late it may be, but
here is the picture meant for my Granddad’s obituary > > > > > > >

After the funeral the family had a small gathering back to the house at 69 St Helens Street. Letters of condolence were plentiful and R Orme & Sons received letters telling of the good work Michael had done for them.

Ada never remarried, she worked hard and cared for her two son's. Like Michael she also enjoyed playing darts and dominoes at the local pubs; The Neptune and The Chesterfield Arms. She worked as a cook at the local bus depot until she retired. Ada passed away 25 years later on the day before Michael; the 26th Febraury 1988.

~ X ~

﻿

Ada Frances Hannan

26th February 1988

X

Michael Hannan

27th February 1963

~ X ~

﻿

Does anyone know any more information about Michael Hannan and his time with the Royal Engineers?

Do you recognise any of the men on the photo of the Royal Engineers in Italy?

Please do add your comments and let me know if you have any more information.